Austria has reopened a criminal investigation into the notorious kidnapping of schoolgirl Natascha Kampusch to determine whether more people were involved, officials said today.
Ms Kampusch was abducted aged 10 as she walked to school in 1998 and was held in a cell beneath a house garage until her dash to freedom in August 2006. Her captor, Wolfgang Priklopil (44) committed suicide hours after her escape.
Independent investigators concluded in June that Austrian police failed to pursue leads that could have snared Ms Kampusch's abductor quickly and averted her long ordeal.
A report into the Kampusch abduction and the subsequent investigation said another schoolgirl had reported seeing two men in a white-panel truck into which she saw Kampusch forcibly bundled the day she vanished, but this lead was never followed up for undetermined reasons.
Ms Kampusch's father, Ludwig Koch, told Austrian press agency APA: "I hope that complete clarity will finally be achieved. I believe that there are a number of people out there who must be brought to justice."
Ms Kampusch, now 20, welcomed the reactivated inquiry.
"I think it's good that the authorities have decided to shed more light on the case. We can't allow that possible further culprits, of whom I have no knowledge, to escape punishment," Ms Kampusch told APA.
"The resumption of the investigation should also be used to clarify the reasons for the failure of the previous investigators," Kampusch said on Friday.
Austria's parliament voted in March to investigate the performance of the Interior Ministry because of issues including alleged mistakes in the handling of the Kampusch kidnapping.
"The issue now is whether there was more than one kidnapper, (based on) indications from the Kampusch investigative report," Justice Ministry spokesman Thomas Geiblinger said, explaining why Justice Minister Maria Berger ordered the case reopened.
Ms Kampusch turned TV chat show host in June when her debut programme aired on national television. Ms Kampusch has said she also wants to work on charity projects.
Reuters